Fun Family Finger Foods a Plenty

It's Sat night and we got each other.... Oh wait, that's not quite the words.

But.... it is Sat night and we love our family time.  In honor of movie night, but wanting to be a "bit" more healthy - I opted to make corn dog muffins, accompanied by oven baked kale and zucchini chips, along with sliced apples and carmel for desert.  Yum!  Healthy - er finger foods that are just plain fun.

Here's the recipes for your own "fun family finger food" night!

Corn dog muffins
Several hot dogs cut into thirds - cooked.  A corn muffin mix (or make your own) prepared.
Scoop the corn muffin mix into sprayed muffin tins - insert 1 piece of hot dog into center of each muffin.
Bake for 20 min or so until golden brown and center is done.

The finished product - Kale chips -
This started out as 3 - 9x13 baking pans

Serve w/ketchup and mustard if desired.

Kale chips
Cut kale into bite size pieces - place in baking dish or cookie sheet.
Drizzle w/olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper.
Mix w/hands to coat.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20+ min.  Watch - you want them to get crispy, but not burn.
Believe me - burning is not good - Just ask Trinity.



Zucchini chips

The assembly line for my zucchini chips

Cut zucchini into small, thin rounds.  (I did 2)
Put 1/2 cup milk in a small bowl.
In separate bowl combine 1/2 C panko bread crumbs, 4TBS regular bread crumbs, and 4TBS parmesan cheese - mix.
Place zucchini chips in milk then press into bread crumb mixture - coating both sides - then place on greased metal baking rack on top of a cookie sheet.
Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes - till golden brown.


For desert - sliced apples of various kinds
Carmel for dipping - this takes a little pre-planning - take a can (or more if you want extra) of sweetened condensed milk.  Place it in a large pan of water.  Boil the water and keep it boiling for 8 hours - keep filling the pan to make sure the can(s) are covered throughout the process.  After 8 hours - carefully remove.  Allow to cool a bit, then open. The best carmel EVER!  Transfer to serving bowl and serve as dip for the apples.  YUMMY!!  OR - just open a jar of store bought carmel sauce if you're short on time. The fun and yum factor are still there.

We rarely have left overs of kale chips; the zucchini chips triumphed tonight - none left even though a remnant of kale chips remained.  The carmel and apples, however, stole the trophy for beating out the competition in being eaten up first.  Can't even imagine why.